When he used the Find My iPad app on his phone, the 28-year-old saw that his bag and iPad were traveling out of London, so he decided to message the British Transport Police on Twitter.

The IT worker told the Daily Star: "I knew straight away my stuff hadn't been handed in because I could see Â­exactly where it was."

After police replied to the tweet, he passed on his log-in details to them, and they then began tracking the iPad themselves.

The stolen bag was traveling to Manchester on a train, which meant that police knew what time the thief would arrive at the station. An officer then met the train as it pulled into the station and ordered the driver to keep the doors shut.

A loud beeping noise was then activated on the iPad, directing the police straight to the thief.

The man attempted to escape but was handcuffed and arrested. He was held in a cell overnight before admitting to the crime the next morning.

Sathar was reunited with his lost bag less than 24 hours later. He said: "Without the technology available I would have definitely lost my bag for good. I had no idea it could work so accurately and help police as much as this when something had been stolen.

"It wasn't even my idea for police to track the iPad for me - they suggested it. I didn't expect them to be this tech-savvy."